50 Years of ‘Bond, James Bond’

The Bond: Sean Connery. The Girl: Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder. The Peril: A bad guy with an island lair in Jamaica messes with U.S. missiles in hopes of heating up the Cold War. The Cool: Bikini-clad Ursula Andress gets out of the water.

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From Russia With Love (1963)

The Bond: Sean Connery. The Girl: Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova. The Peril: Bad guys use a Soviet encryption thingy and a beautiful counterspy to bait Bond into a trap aboard a train. The Cool: Rosa Klebb gets her kicks with poison-tipped spiked shoes.

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Goldfinger (1964)

The Bond: Sean Connery. The Girl: Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore. The Peril: A rich bad guy plans to destroy Fort Knox to drive up the price of gold. The Cool: Even with a laser pointed at his pants, Bond keeps his cool. But he still hates The Beatles.

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Thunderball (1965)

The Bond: Sean Connery. The Girl: Claudine Auger as Dominique ÒDominoÓ Derval. The Peril: Bad guys steal atomic bombs and hold the U.K. and U.S. for ransom. The Cool: The incredible Tom Jones sings the theme song like only Tom Jones incredibly can.

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You Only Live Twice (1967)

The Bond: Sean Connery. The Girl: Mie Hama as Kissy Suzuki. The Peril: Bad guys from Japan capture an orbiting American spacecraft and blame the Soviets in hopes of heating up the Cold War. The Cool: NINJAS!

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On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

The Bond: George Lazenby. The Girl: Diana Rigg as Tracy Di Vicenzo. The Peril: Bad guys develop a killer virus and BondÕs only key to stopping them is an infamous crimeboss. The Cool: James Bond actually falls in love and gets married. Too bad his bride doesnÕt live to see their honeymoon.

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Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

The Bond: Sean Connery. The Girl: Jill St. John as Tiffany Case. The Peril: A global diamond smuggling ring leads Bond to Las Vegas where an old enemy awaits. The Cool: Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd seem to have a really good friendship. Wait, what? Oooo.

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Live and Let Die (1973)

The Bond: Roger Moore. The Girl: Jane Seymour as Solitaire. The Peril: Voodoo bad guys kill off other British elite agents, then make lots of heroin to sell in the U.S. The Cool: ItÕs 1971 and blaxploitation is in style as Bond visits Harlem, New Orleans and the Caribbean all in one film.

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The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

The Bond: Roger Moore. The Girl: Britt Ekland as Mary Goodnight. The Peril: An infamous assassin works out his fantasy to hunt James Bond in a Òmost dangerous gameÓ scenario. The Cool #1: Actor Christopher Lee. Good as Dracula, better as Saruman, best as Scaramanga. The Cool #2: Actor Herve Villechaize. Before ÒFantasy IslandÓ Tattoo, he was death islandÕs Nick Nack.

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The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

The Bond: Roger Moore. The Girl: Barbara Bach as Major Anya Amasova. The Peril: Bad guys steal atomic bombs and hold the U.K. and U.S. for ransom. Again. The Cool #1: BondÕs white Lotus Esprit sportscar shoots missiles and can turn into a submarine. The Cool #2: Killer henchman Jaws has metal teeth and is always in a bad mood.

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Moonraker (1979)

The Bond: Roger Moore. The Girl: Lois Chiles as Dr. Holly Goodhead. The Peril: Bad guys develop a killer virus to wipe out humanity and start over with ÒperfectÓ breeding stock orbiting Earth in a space condo. The Cool: After metal-mouthed Jaws finally gets a girlfriend, he mellows out and joins the good guys.

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For Your Eyes Only (1981)

The Bond: Roger Moore. The Girl: Carole Bouquet as Melina Havelock. The Peril: A British spy ship sinks near Soviet waters and spies from both sides of the Cold War race to recover a super-secret gadget lost in the wreckage. The Cool: Then-rising star Sheena Easton sings the movieÕs theme while appearing in the opening credits, a feat no one else has done in the whole film series.

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Octopussy (1983)

The Bond: Roger Moore. The Girl: Maud Adams as Octopussy. The Peril: A rogue Soviet general steals an atomic bomb and seeks to win the Cold War for Russia. The Cool: Maud Adams got to be a ÒBond girlÓ twice; she previously played ScaramangaÕs ill-fated lover in ÒThe Man with the Golden Gun.Ó

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Never Say Never Again (1983)

The Bond: Sean Connery. The Girl: Kim Basinger as Domino Petachi. The Peril: Bad guys steal atomic bombs and hold the U.K. and U.S. for ransom. AGAIN. (This movie was a remake of 1965â²s Thunderball.). The Cool: Featuring a clearly aging Bond, this film is not part of the âofficialâ series since it sprang to life during a legal battle between movie studios. Still, giving Connery back his license to kill is always welcome.

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A View to a Kill (1985)

The Bond: Roger Moore. The Girl: Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton. The Peril: A rich bad guy plans to destroy Silicon Valley to drive up the price of microchips. The Cool: As the lead Bond villain, Christopher Walken demands more cowbell. Or more Grace Jones. Or something.

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The Living Daylights (1987)

The Bond: Timothy Dalton. The Girl: Maryam dÕAbo as Kara Milovy. The Peril: Bad intel suggests the KGB is launching a new campaign of terror against Western spies. The Cool: Bond allies with Mujahideen insurgents in Afghanistan against the bad guys. Times were different then.

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Licence to Kill (1989)

The Bond: Timothy Dalton. The Girls: Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier and Talisa Soto as Lupe Lamora. The Peril: Bond goes rogue to avenge the mutilation of a friend who was targeted by an evil drug lord. The Cool: Playing a corrupt televangelist, Wayne Newton creates the most surreal Bond villain ever.

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GoldenEye (1995)

The Bond: Pierce Brosnan. The Girl: Izabella Scorupco as Natalya Fyodorovna Simonova. The Peril: A former British agent plans to zap London with a space weapon and ruin global financial trade. The Cool #1: Famke Janssen gleefully over-acts as Xenia Onatopp, a henchwoman who crushes men with her legs during sex. The Cool #2: In the Russian mobsterÕs club, watch for Minnie Driver as a talentless lounge singer massacring American country and western tunes.

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Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

The Bond: Pierce Brosnan. The Girl: Michelle Yeoh as Chinese superspy Wai Lin. The Peril: A media mogul promotes war with China to up his TV ratings and sell more newspapers. The Cool: A not-so-desperate, pre-housewife Teri Hatcher plays one of BondÕs many bitter ex-lovers.

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The World is Not Enough (1999)

The Bond: Pierce Brosnan. The Girls: Sophie Marceau as Elektra King and Denise Richards as Dr. Christmas Jones. The Peril: Intrigue surrounding an oil pipeline through the Caucasus masks a plot of revenge against BondÕs boss, M. The Cool: Someone in Hollywood thought the audience would buy Denise Richards playing the role of a nuclear scientist. in Kazakhstan, no less. Yeah, right.

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Die Another Day (2002)

The Bond: Pierce Brosnan. The Girl: Halle Berry as Giacinta ÒJinxÓ Johnson. The Peril: Bad guys plan to zap the North Korea-South Korea DMZ with a space weapon. The Cool #1: Bond survives being tortured with electroshocks and scorpions throughout the movieÕs entire opening sequence. He also survives meeting Madonna later in the film. (Clearly, in this one, Bond is jinxed.). The Cool #2: Bikini-clad Halle Berry gets out of the water.

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Casino Royale (2006)

The Bond: Daniel Craig. The Girl: Eva Green as Vesper Lynd. The Peril: Bad guys are funding global terrorism, but one of them likes to gamble too much. The Cool: With less jokes and gadgets and more attitude, this film returned a much-needed touch of cruelty back to author Ian FlemmingÕs original character as written in the novels.

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Quantum Of Solace (2008)

The Bond: Daniel Craig. The Girl: Olga Kurylenko as Camille Montes. The Peril: Something about control of Bolivian water rights and a secret conspiracy known as Quantum. The Cool: CraigÕs Bond is a maverick out for revenge against those who killed his lover in the previous film. This is Bond more by way of Jason Bourne or Dirty Harry than MacGyver.

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Skyfall (U.S. Release - November 9, 2012)

The Bond: Daniel Craig. The Girls: Berenice Marlohe & Naomie Harris The Peril: Daniel Craig is back as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in "Skyfall," the 23rd adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time. In "Skyfall," Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. The Cool: So far, the film releases the same year as the 50th Anniversary of the James Bond franchise.